The rain had been pattering through the trees all night. A steady rhythm to help drown the nerves that were screaming inside my head. Not just my nerves, but the nerves of every pack member laying their life on the line to defend this pack. There was only one calm, reassuring thread in my mind, Abbi.
Water droplets froze, the liquid that had been sliding down my skin reversed. The threat was nearing, and they had a secret weapon. Witches were nearly extinct, but they still existed. If you could get one on your side, it provided sure protection and an advantage against all who crossed you... or those you decided to cross. Even with a witch on their side, they weren't ready for the threat we posed with our own secret weapon.
Me.
I could feel Neal nudging in my brain, telling me it was time for action. This was it, this was what our pack's fate boiled down to, whether I'd honed my abilities enough to take down this witch and save our pack from being overrun.
My breath shook as I stepped from behind the tree and water rushed back to the sky. Electricity sung through the air, the hair on my body standing on end.
Her dark eyes bored into me the moment I stood in the clearing and I could feel her mind race with potential attacks. She wasn't threatened in the least. After all, she knew I wasn't a witch, and what I was believed to be had long died out. Or so many thought.
Lightning struck behind the witch, the smile growing on her face at the thought of an easy kill.
My fingers tingled as I closed my eyes, closing out the reverse fall of the rain, sending the waves into my hands like charging a defibrillator.
I locked eyes with the woman, and brought my hands together in a loud clap that sent an invisible shield in her direction at top speed. She didn't even have time to react before her body flew five feet.
I readied the energy in my body again, charging up for the attack that was sure to come as the woman got to her feet. If I could distract her, then my pack was sure to be able to hold off the Red Pine pack.
*****************
"Cynthia! Abbi is waiting for you." My mother called up the stairs.
Not even three seconds later, Abbi slammed the door open. "Girl, you promised that you would come with me to this tonight. We just made it through another year of school. It's time to go out and have some fun."
Abbi threw herself onto my bed in typical dramatic fashion. She was ready from head to toe for the bonfire in her short white shorts that showed off her long, sun-kissed legs and a pink sequin top that few could pull off. Her platinum hair intricately braided, no doubt by herself.
I could feel her excitement for this party in my throat like a ball that I just couldn't swallow. Looking over to my pajamas draped over the edge of the bed, I let out a deep breath to pull my walls back up. It was always much more difficult once someone was already inside though.
"Fun for who?" I asked as I trudged into my closet, looking at everything I didn't want to wear. I had a tub of of ice cream, a horror movie, and those comfy flannel pajamas calling my name.
"Cyn, don't be like that," Abbi groaned.
"Like what? Like everyone does whatever they can to completely ignore me?"
"That's only because they don't know you like I do, Cyn." Abbi sat up straight, those green eyes locked on me with that determination she's carried with her since we first met thirteen years ago.
"Not everyone is a naive pup who refuses to listen to their parents, Abbi." I pushed shirt after shirt to the side, refusing to look Abbi in the eyes.
"You're welcome. Now put this on and pair it with those wedges you have in the corner and let's go."
Fabric hit my back and I turned to see an electric blue body suit and black mini shorts lying by my feet. They definitely had not come from my wardrobe.
Abbi was already out the door and down the stairs talking to my mother. I could hear my mother's hushed voice thanking Abbi over and over again for getting me out of the house and getting me through just about every moment in my life. Guilt and sadness laced her words, snaking their way up the stairs toward me.
A night of everyone ignoring me wouldn't be terrible if it wasn't for the fact that I'd be able to feel their resentment. Every word they thought about me. Every word that made the guilt grow within my mother.
I'd never harbored any hard feelings for my mother. It wasn't her fault she'd chosen love over expectation, but every day she was reminded of it when she looked around the pack. Our family had been a force to be reckoned with. Close to the Alpha family, my grandfather had been our past Alpha's right hand man. Until the scandal of a lifetime happened and my mother fell in love with a mentalist.
Rare, powerful creatures. A pack would be considered lucky to find a mentalist to enlist for their protection, and we had one. Until he'd been killed that is.
"Cyn let's go already!"
I snapped the buttons on the body suit and pulled the shorts up, quickly examining myself in the mirror. I combed my hair through the thick, brown waves to give it some extra body.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Please don't have a meltdown." I grabbed the wedges from the corner of my room and padded down the stairs.
"Hot. Mama," Abbi fanned herself as I made it down the last couple steps.
"Shut up."
"Girl, I am one hundred percent serious. You are so hot. I knew those colors would just pop on you. You have that whole sexy, pale, bad chick vibe, you know?"
I shook my head at hear and pulled the shoes on. "No, I didn't know. Thanks for informing me though, I think."
"It's not like I'm hitting on you! Well, I am a little bit, but I don't go that way. So you're safe." Abbi winked at me and all I could do was roll my eyes.
"So are we going, or not?"
"Of course!" Abbi grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the house.
I could faintly hear my mom advising us to have fun, but not too much fun, or something vaguely parental.
We didn't have to go too far into the woods before we could see the smoke from the clearing ahead. It wasn't a party that we had to hide. Not when it was a recurring event, and especially not when it was thrown by the Alpha's and Beta's children.
Music blared from the speakers, and red cups already littered the area. It looked as though they'd already broken out the Wolfsbane. No, not the poisonous plant, but rather a concoction created deliberately to enact a similar sensation for werewolves to that of intoxication. Something I was still able to partake in, even with my mixed blood.
"I'll go get us a drink. You wait here?" Abbi squeezed my arm and I nodded
She slipped away and I took a seat on a tree that had long fallen, worn down over the years from being used as a bench for these gatherings.
Everyone danced, completely carefree. Brent, the Beta's son tipped his head back and drunkenly howled at the sky, setting off a chain reaction.
"Boys," Abbi said as she sat down next to me, handing the cup over. "Can't live with 'em, and it would be way more peaceful without 'em."
"I don't think that's how it goes." I took a long sip of the purple liquid from the cup.
"Isn't it? I could have sworn that's how it went." Abbi nudged me, and we both laughed.
"Look," Abbi slapped her knee and stood up. "I don't know about you, but I came here to drink and to dance, and to just forget about everything back there," she gestured back toward the pack homes.
Frankly, I only showed up because I was forced to, but I also wasn't about to be the one to ruin Abbi's mood.
The sun had almost fully set, and the fire was burning at a good pace. Even I had to admit there was something freeing about the night. I didn't feel the weight of everyone's eyes and thoughts on me. They were too occupied by the cups in their hands and the music. It was the first night where I felt like I could belong with everyone, that there wasn't something fundamentally different about me.
I stood up and took Abbi's outstretched hand as we made our way into the crowd of people, turning ourselves over to the hypnotic flow of the music, giving way to the elixir in our cups.